Redmond Proficiency Academy has reached a milestone: It officially owns its own building.

Construction recently began at 150 SW 25th St., on the new RPA middle school building, which is scheduled to be finished before the 2016-17 school year begins this fall.

“What teacher wouldn’t be excited?” said Hallie Caron, a middle school humanities teacher at RPA. “It’s a building that will specifically fit RPA, and to have a building designed just for that is exciting.”

The charter school currently leases every location where it holds a class and has since it was established about eight years ago. It has leased the Hugh Hartman building from the Redmond School District for the past four years. Owning the new middle school building will be a first for RPA, something the school looks forward to.

“I think it will be liberating,” Caron said. “Leasing the building, there are always questions if we want to change anything, but owning a building we will be able to make it home. We will be able to mold it how we need.”

“RPA pushes its students to own their education, and having our own building will match that learning style and engage students in a different way,” Caron added.

High school students will occupy more space downtown next year as well, with the addition of the Desert Song Church building and more portions of The Printing Post building to RPA’s campus.

Nearly a full block of downtown Redmond will be dedicated to the RPA high school campus beginning in the 2016-17 school year

“Right now the high school is extremely unique,” Caron said. “Having the campus downtown is an amazing opportunity. I think having our own building for the middle school will help the transition to high school because it will allow us to mimic the educational style … and that will help make a more fluid education system.”

The middle school

The middle school, which will be located near the Bridge Church of the Nazarene, is estimated to cost about $6.6 million and will be paid for by RPA through the sale of nearly the same amount in municipal bonds.

The building will be about 24,000 square feet, with a floor plan designed specifically for RPA’s progressive educational style. It will hold about 300 middle school students. The additional high school locations will be funded with annual operational money from RPA.

“We’re excited to own our own building,” said Jon Bullock, executive director of RPA. “We’re securing facility solutions for the long term. It will be our building; we won’t have to rely on leases.”

Bullock said RPA is nearly at its goal enrollment for the high school and middle school, with more than 260 middle schoolers and more than 550 high schoolers.

The construction isn’t focused on future growth, though, as enrollment is planned to plateau at current numbers. Bullock said this is because current class sizes are preferred for RPA’s teaching style, and the overall size of the school meets the original goal size. The charter school has an enrollment waiting list of about 100 students.

“I’m learning new things every day,” Bullock said. “Has it been stressful? Yes. I want our students, school and community to have the best facility we can provide, but it’s been a great learning experience for me. I’m very excited to have a place for kids in our community to go to school. … When it’s all said and done, I think I’ll take a nap.”

Curriculum and educational plans are to remain the same at RPA with the changes in campuses.

Early learning center to move in

Shifts in location and new construction comes as RPA’s lease with the Redmond School District for the Hugh Hartman building ends. The school district plans to use the school building for an Early Learning Center, which it announced about two years ago, that is also planned to open for the 2016-17 school year.

The Early Learning Center will consolidate kindergarten classes in Redmond to one building.

This model of early childhood education is common with early learning centers throughout the state, including Pendleton and the David Douglas school districts.

The primary goal of establishing an early learning center in Redmond is for preparatory services for children within the Redmond School District, as well as addressing capacity concerns at elementary schools across the district.

“My hope is that there is a lasting positive impact on our kindergarten students in preparing them for the first grade because of the activities made available to them before entering a classroom,” said Mike McIntosh, school district superintendent. “We are putting a focus on improving the experience in the Redmond School District by starting at an early age.”

When children enter kindergarten in Redmond only 40 percent are prepared for a learning environment, according to McIntosh. Having kindergarten in a centralized place will make collaboration between teachers easier.

Childhood services will also be available at the Early Learning Center, including a partnership with Healthy Beginnings, which will hold its Redmond screenings at the center. Other community service providers plan to partner at the learning center in an effort to make accessibility to those services easier for the community.

“Our target are those families that aren’t accessing support and services available in the community or simply may not have access to those services,” McIntosh said.

The Hartman building, which is scheduled to undergo renovations after the end of the school year, will have 18 kindergarten classrooms.

The school district has about $950,000 set aside for the project, which will include construction of a secure entryway, outdoor playgrounds and converting science cabinets into kindergarten cubbies.

A preschool is also planned for the learning center, with the potential of adding two more in the future, funded by Title 1 federal grants and private funds — separate from Redmond K-12 funds. Tumalo and Terrebonne will continue to operate their privately funded preschools.

Increasing the focus on early childhood education in Redmond is a goal of McIntosh’s. He said the impact of improving the preparedness of children for a learning environment will improve their overall experience in Redmond’s education system.

“We’ve been working incredibly hard to get every kid past that finish line at graduation,” McIntosh said. “We’ve been rewarded with a graduation rate of 85 percent, and I want to reach those kids that aren’t making it across the finish line. We want to affect the success of these kids, not only up to graduation but well past that day. And one goal I have is to have 100 percent of students reading and writing in the third grade.”

“We believe going to the younger grades will help improve graduation rates,” McIntosh said.

The Early Learning Center will be a first for the school district and Redmond.

Next school year in Redmond will hold a variety of new experiences for students in kindergarten through high school.

Both RPA and the school district set to their respective projects without the need to create a new school bond.

And although the relationship between the two educational organizations will be physically growing apart, the partnership between the two will remain.

“This is a huge milestone for RPA, and this just shows their dedication,” McIntosh said. “Our partnership will continue to be strong and strong in the future.”

— Reporter, 541-548-2185, cbrown@redmondspokesman.com